no floppy -> SATA Hdd install?

[The Saint]

Quick question for you guys...

just received my new motherboard (asus A8N Premium) and since I don`t have a floppy drive, I was wondering if I could use a USB flash drive to install the SATA HDD....?

Can i?
Is there any other way I could install it, without a floppy?

[Jonsey]

How about an untended install disk with all the drivers slipstreamed in?

[The Saint]

hmmm nahhh too much work....

I guess the only way is to install a floppy, is it?

[Jonsey]

That's the only way I'm aware of. You might get a better response if you post the question in the OS forum. Lots of big brains there. ;)

[Zardoz]

Thanks to microsoft you must use a floppy...

[zoinks]

we have similar parts here and i don't use a floppy. i'm confused as to what you are trying to do. are you trying to use hitachi's feature tool? i burned the bootable iso to cd.

[The Saint]

...thank guys...

zoinks: when you install XP it asks you if you want to press F6 to install SATA drives and what more. At that point it seeks a floppy with the Sata Drivers....

I'm just wondering if there's a way not to use the floppy to install those...

[chiablo]

Everyone is begging Microsoft to allow the use of a thumbdrive or mass storage device instead of a floppy for their release of Vista.

Hopefully they listen.

You should have seen me when I was setting up my machine with a SATA raid. I had a floppy drive hanging precariously out of the top of my case while I installed XP.

[The Saint]

...I hear you chiablo...

I will install it just for that, and then remove it once I'm done. :( sigh

[zoinks]

...thank guys...

zoinks: when you install XP it asks you if you want to press F6 to install SATA drives and what more. At that point it seeks a floppy with the Sata Drivers....

I'm just wondering if there's a way not to use the floppy to install those...

interesting. i've done 3 format/windows xp installs since i've built this and never saw that F6 message(or am i that old i forget). is there a way to cancel/ignore the message? now i'm wondering about this. i'm using windows ide drivers(ignore nvidia installing chipset). where are the sata drivers? windows? i was NEVER promted to install sata drivers. where in the windows install does it ask you this?

btw: i've never had a floppy on this system and my sata is picked up at 3.0g after using the hitachi feature tool. running win xp pro.

[chiablo]

During the blue screen install before the format options appear there is some text that appears on the bottom of the screen that asks if you want to install and third-party SATA or Raid drivers. The message only stays on screen for about 10 seconds, then it continues with the regular setup.

If you are running IDE and no Raid then don't worry about it.

The drivers for the SATA and/or Raid are provided by the motherboard/pci raid manufacturer on a floppy (or an executable that creates a floppy for you.)

[c1001]

You might want to contact Asus to check, but I bet than you can probably install a SATA HDD on the Nvidia connector (black) on the A8N-SLI Premium. You just can't install a RAID config. After Windows is installed you can then download the SATA and RAID drivers for the Nvidia and SiL connectors. I just installed a WD 74gb Raptor on an A8N-SLI Deluxe without a floppy for the SATA drivers.

That was a "doh" moment for me. You still need a floppy for this one stupid purpose. You can't even buy a floppy at Best Buy anymore.

[The Saint]

c1001....

what do you mean by Nvidia connector?

You mean that I can install the Hitachi T7K250 by plugging it to this Nvidia connector and it will be recognized as a SATA 3G\sec HDD?

[zoinks]

c1001....

what do you mean by Nvidia connector?

You mean that I can install the Hitachi T7K250 by plugging it to this Nvidia connector and it will be recognized as a SATA 3G\sec HDD?

sata1 (nvidia port - black port)...not sata_raid1(red port). it will be recognized at 1.5(hitachi default for people without sata2 port) the hitachi feature tool lets you change drive settings
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

[zoinks]

During the blue screen install before the format options appear there is some text that appears on the bottom of the screen that asks if you want to install and third-party SATA or Raid drivers. The message only stays on screen for about 10 seconds, then it continues with the regular setup.

If you are running IDE and no Raid then don't worry about it.

The drivers for the SATA and/or Raid are provided by the motherboard/pci raid manufacturer on a floppy (or an executable that creates a floppy for you.)


ok. i remember that now. i just let it continue.
i connected my single drive in sata1, ignored that 3rd party message, and windows installed with no problem.

well this is how i set up my system if it helps:
1. load windows.
2. install sp2
3. load chipset drivers important: uncheck nvidia ide drivers during install (they suck) windows ide drivers work great. and uncheck nvidia audio. you only need the bus and ethernet drivers(2 different ethernets on this mb)
4. load realtek audio driver (ver a3.66 is on mb cd and is the only driver i could get spdif to work)
5. load silicon image raid driver from mb cd. answer no to the question "will there be a non-sata drive on the sata raid controller" you will connect to the sata1 not the sata raid1.
6. load marvel yukon gigabit ethernet driver from mb cd.
7. no need to load usb 2.0 drivers as xp2 has done that already.
8. loaded my evga video driver.

since i've owned this board and messed with the bios some, i disabled my silicon sata controller(under onboard device configuration) and uninstalled the silicon image raid driver. this keeps the software from loading at boot and also makes boot time much faster as it doesn't look for a raid setup.

[The Saint]

...hmmmm

well maybe it will work, and I will try it: but I don`t see why it should since the Floppy requirement is a Windows limitation ...

[The Saint]

thnanks for the help there. Will try your steps there and report back :)

[zoinks]

...hmmmm

well maybe it will work, and I will try it: but I don`t see why it should since the Floppy requirement is a Windows limitation ...

it does work. i have no cd or floppy with sata drivers on it...that's why i was confused at first. i connected my hitachi to sata1 port with the sata cable that came with the asus mb. windows loads without any 3rd party and my sata drive works fine. then use hitachi feature tool to change from 1.5 g to 3.0g.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=950166&highlight=feature+tool

[The Saint]

...again thank you so much.

Tomorrow I should get the HDD here....

now the only thing that I need to buy is XP :( Sigh

[Standpoint]

Just thought that Id throw in my two cents on this. I was trying to install a SATA drive on my mothers new computer, and the mobo only came w/ the CD w/ the drivers on it. Obviously windows would not recognize it when installing, and I had no SATA drivers on floppy. Couldnt get windows to recognize the drive to install on. I tried downloading drivers online for the HDD and mobo, but they were all too big to fit on a floppy. I did some searching, and found a forum that someone mentioned that you can use a jumper and try different positions on the back of the HDD to change the SATA HDD from its default autodetection mode to a different one, causing windows to recognize it. It took two tries, but wala, XP found my SATA w/ no driver install.

[c1001]

it does work. i have no cd or floppy with sata drivers on it...that's why i was confused at first. i connected my hitachi to sata1 port with the sata cable that came with the asus mb. windows loads without any 3rd party and my sata drive works fine. then use hitachi feature tool to change from 1.5 g to 3.0g.

Wooh hoo! I'm glad it worked for you as well.

[zoinks]

ya, this post was the first time i ever worried about any sata drivers...and my pc's been running for a couple months. :p

[Super Mario]

Doesn't Windows XP recognize most SATA drives without the need for a floppy as long as you have SP2 slipstreamed on your XP installation CD? But without SP2, you need to load the SATA drivers from a floppy or slipstream them into the XP CD.

Am I right?

Also, should I use the NVIDIA IDE drivers or stick with Windows XP's own IDE drivers. I have an NForce 4 chipset motherboard.

[zoinks]

i never use nvidia ide drivers.
http://plextor.com/english/support/faqs/PTP00007.htm

[djnes]

Doesn't Windows XP recognize most SATA drives without the need for a floppy as long as you have SP2 slipstreamed on your XP installation CD? But without SP2, you need to load the SATA drivers from a floppy or slipstream them into the XP CD.

Am I right?

Also, should I use the NVIDIA IDE drivers or stick with Windows XP's own IDE drivers. I have an NForce 4 chipset motherboard.
You're right, on a system using an Intel chipset. I don't know why AMD's chipset partners dropped the ball here, but any Intel chipset board with SATA doesn't need those drivers, unless you're using RAID.

[Dagatech]

i just built my computer, using an Epox nforce4 ultra board, and a vanilla WinXP disc. Didn't require any extra drivers, installed just fine.

[djnes]

Good, it's nice to see that changing to include more chipsets.